In U.S. Pat. No. 3,739,025, U.S. Pat. No. 3,847,984 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,847,985, methods for preparing cyclopropylmethyl-alkyl-amines are described including reacting cyclopropylmethylamine (CPMA) with ketones, aldehydes or alcohols in the presence of hydrogen and a metal hydrogenation catalyst or compound thereof. A representative equation is as follows: ##STR1##
The catalytic materials can be in pure form but preferably are deposited on a carrier, such as carbon, alumina, silica gel, barium sulfate, calcium carbonate, barium carbonate, kieselguhr, zirconia, thoria, magnesia, titania, montmorillonite clay, bauxite, diatomaceous earth, course porcelain or any other refractory material which has no adverse effect on the reaction.
Useful catalysts for these reactions are selected from the group consisting of rhodium on carbon, platinum on carbon, palladium on carbon, Raney nickel or nickel-cobalt, copper on a siliceous support, copper on alumina, or unsupported copper chromite which may contain 1-50% barium chromite.